Members of the HALOS (Healing After Loss Of Suicide) support group will also participate in the August 8 meeting.
Author: Hays Post
Natoma native interns for Congressman Marshall
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Seth Hachmeister, a rising Firstie at the United States Military Academy (USMA) at West Point, recently completed an internship with Congressman Roger Marshall, of Kansas. Hachmeister was in Washington, D.C. July 8-25, participating in an Academic Individual Advanced Development (AIAD) program with West Point.
The ADIDs are designed to provide Cadets a venue for educational experiences that would not be possible within the traditional framework of the academic, military, and physical programs which comprises the 47-month USMA experience.
Hachmeister seized the opportunity during a meeting with Rep. Marshall to invite the Congressman to the Remembering Our Fallen display in Plainville in October.
This national touring tribute of military personnel that have paid the ultimate sacrifice since 9-11 will be in Plainville October 18-2, 2019.
Hachmeister presented Rep. Marshall with a Remembering Our Fallen t-shirt, and personally invited him to the event. While Rep. Marshall instructed his scheduler to add this event to his agenda, word has been received Rep. Marshall will be needed in Washington as Congress will be in session. Tyler Mason, Congressmen Marshall’s Military Affairs Representative, has confirmed he will be attending the opening ceremony.
Hachmeister completed his third year at West Point in May, and is majoring in U.S. history. He is the son of Ken and Sheila Hachmeister of Natoma.
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Braun among three chosen to serve on Kan. justice reform committee
TOPEKA—Three representatives from the Kansas judicial branch have been appointed to serve on the Kansas Criminal Justice Reform Commission.
Under authority granted by state statute, Chief Justice Lawton Nuss appointed Chris Mechler, court services specialist in the Office of Judicial Administration.
Also under statutory authority, the Kansas District Judges Association appointed Chief Judge Glenn Braun and the Kansas District Magistrate Judges Association appointed District Magistrate Judge Marty Clark to the commission.
Braun serves in the 23rd Judicial District, which is composed of Ellis, Gove, Rooks, and Trego counties. Clark serves in Russell County of the 20th Judicial District.
The 2019 Legislature created the commission to study the criminal justice system as a whole and make recommendations about sentencing, diversion programs, specialty courts, specialized correctional facilities, offender supervision, criminal justice data management, and other matters identified by the commission.
Other commission members represent the legislature, law enforcement, prosecution and defense counsel, law schools, addiction and health care professionals, and the faith-based community.
National tribute to post-9/11 military to be in Plainville
PLAINVILLE – “Remembering Our Fallen,” a national traveling display in honor and memory of those military personnel who have died in the line of duty, in training, and as a result of PTSD since 9-11, will be in Plainville, Kan. October 18-20, 2019.
This will be the first time since the debut of the national display at the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. in the fall of 2017, this basketball court-sized pictorial display has traveled this far west of Kansas City in the state of Kansas.
This traveling memorial originated with Bill and Evonne Williams, Omaha, Neb., the parents of four sons who have voluntarily served in the military. Their hope is to preserve the memory of those who have made the ultimate sacrifice. The Nebraska couple were inspired to develop this project after reading an article in the Omaha World-Herald about the father of Sgt. Joshua Ford. The younger Ford had died in Iraq and his father’s pain and grief were greater even after four years had passed. There was the fear his son would be forgotten. This display is an attempt preserve and honor the memory of those soldiers.
“We were in Philadelphia for the Army-Navy football game this last fall and just happened to walk past this display at Independence National Park,” explained Sheila (Selbe) Hachmeister.
Sheila and her husband Ken of rural Natoma have two sons serving in the military. Jared is a 2017 graduate of the United States Naval Academy currently stationed in Pensacola. Seth is currently a West Point cadet at the United States Military Academy.
“When we entered the display and realized exactly what was represented, we were so moved,” Sheila said.
“We found Bryan Nichols’ picture, a local hero who is on the towers, and then several West Point Cadets. It just touched us.” (Hays native Nichols Bryan Nichols, a 1998 graduate of Thomas More Prep-Marian High School, was killed August 6, 2011, one of 30 American troops killed in Afghanistan when their Chinook helicopter was shot down.)
Sheila, in true Selbe spirit, asked questions about the display and gathered information, knowing this would be a display and project perfectly aligned with Plainville’s tradition of honoring our military.
With information gathered, she enlisted the help of her sisters, Susan Stahl and Lora Weigel, along with members of the Plainville Ambassador Club to pursue discussion concerning the viability of this project becoming a reality in Plainville. Soon Sheila’s passion for this project spread among the core group of organizers.
Since the first of several meetings, funding is being secured and Plainville now appears on the national tour schedule, October 17-20, 2019.
The display will arrive in Plainville on the afternoon of Thursday, Oct. 17 escorted by the American Legion Patriot Riders. With the help of local volunteers, along with the fire department and high school organizations, the display will be assembled at Andreson Memorial Park, adjacent to U.S. 183. The display will be admission free 24/7 until it is disassembled Sunday afternoon, October 20, again by volunteers.
Families who have lost their soldier have been designated as “Gold Star” families. To date more than 80 Kansas families have felt and share these losses. The display contains the photos of more than 5,000 soldiers that have paid the ultimate sacrifice. A Gold Star mother accompanies the display throughout the national tour and is available to answer questions.
CW2 Bryan Nichols, with Palco connections, is among those soldiers honored. Nichols’ parents, Doug and Cynthia Nichols, live in Palco.
The opening ceremony for the display will be at 10:30 a.m. on Friday, October 18 at Andreson Park. Kansas Gold Star families will be honored guests. Personnel from Fort Riley, Kansas Army National Guard, along with national, state, and local officials will be among recognized guests. Students from Rooks County and surrounding school districts will be invited to tour the display. VFW and American Legion Posts, and National Guard armories within the state will be contacted with regional and state promotion of this display. Organizers are anticipating more than 1,000 to several thousand individuals taking advantage of the national display in this portion of Kansas.
There will be both guided and self-guided tours. Parking for the event will available at the school and pre-designated areas in the community with shuttle service available. Restrooms and seating will be provided on site. Students will be available to assist individuals with mobility needs.
Additional details concerning specifics of the ceremony and the events of the three-day display will be made public nearer to the date. Plans have been made in the event of inclement weather to move the display, ceremony and all events to the Plainville High School gymnasium.
Specifics concerning the national display can be found at patriotproductions.org.
Local information may be found through Plainville Ambassador Club Facebook page, or by emailing [email protected]. Volunteers are always welcome and needed. A hospitality tent will be available to Gold Star families. If anyone is interested in helping supply refreshments or help with the purchase of beverages your help is certainly welcome. Stop by and visit with us at our booth at the Rooks County Free Fair, August 11-17 in Stockton.
The Plainville Community has long been known for honoring those who have served our country. The Plainville Ambassador Club (PAC), an organization formed out of the 1988 Plainville Centennial celebration, has and continues to spearhead numerous veteran-related events throughout the year on an annual basis.
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Six northwest Kansas teens hospitalized after SUV rolls
RAWLINS COUNTY – Six people were injured in an accident just after 8:30p.m. Saturday in Rawlins County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2001 Chevy Blazer driven by lean G. Hemel, 17, Atwood, was southbound on County Rd 24 seven miles northeast of Atwood.
The driver lost control on the sand on the roadway. The SUV entered the east ditch and rolled.
Hemel and passengers Omar D. Sanchez, 15; Will C. Rudenell-Stokvis, 13; Jose G. Paz-Barraza, 16; Alex Paz-Barraza, 17, all of Atwood, were transported to Rawlins County Medical Center.
Lastat Chessmore, 16, Atwood, was transported to Swedish Medical Center in Denver. All were properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP
Three-day weather outlook
Kansas, Missouri see uptick in drug overdose deaths
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Federal data indicates drug overdose deaths in Kansas and Missouri are on the rise even as national drug-related fatalities are in decline.
Provisional data released this month by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows drug-related deaths in the U.S. declined by nearly 5% in 2018 after reaching a historic high of 72,000 in 2017.
But the same data also projects that overdose deaths in Kansas rose from 326 in 2017 to 341 in 2018 and Missouri’s increased from 1,406 deaths in 2017 to 1,635 the following year. The data hasn’t been finalized yet.
Randall Williams, the director of the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services says that more than 1,100 of the state’s overdose deaths in 2018 involved opioids and about half of them occurred in the St. Louis area.
“What we are dealing with in Missouri is an increased presence of (highly concentrated opioids like) fentanyl and carfentanil, which presents an even greater risk for opioid overdose,” Williams said. “We will continue to concentrate on upstream approaches toward prevention of opioid misuse while simultaneously instituting new measures that will prevent fentanyl overdoses.”
In 2017, Kansas and Missouri officials signed orders allowing people to purchase naloxone it at pharmacies without a prescription. Naloxone, known by the brand Narcan, is a drug that can counteract opioid overdoses.
This month, Williams said he signed orders that would provide the medication free to high schools, colleges, YMCAs and libraries through a grant program.
In Kansas, officials created a drug abuse task force, which found that more than 80% of overdoses in the state from 2012 to 2016 involved a prescription medication. One-third of overdose deaths involved methamphetamines.
Margaux Guignon, director of prevention services for First Call KC, noted that data shows Missouri doctors are writing fewer opioid prescriptions, and that this could drive people who are already addicted to try more dangerous street drugs. Guignon’s group provides addiction prevention, education and treatment services.
“They’re using fentanyl and I think that’s because we’re trying to cut back on drug prescriptions, and then what are they going to do?” Guignon said. “We have (addiction treatment) resources in our area but not enough. I believe that we need more treatment.”
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JoAnn Pundsack Kerbs
JoAnn Pundsack Kerbs, formerly of Great Bend, died June 29 in Lawrenceville, GA.
She was born Dec. 20, 1931 and graduated from Great Bend High School. Her first job was at Kerbs IGA No. 2 where her checkout line was always backed up because everyone wanted to talk with Jo. In a strategic career move, she married the owner, her “dear” Warren, and was promoted to her dream job of wife and mother. They were married for 59 years until his death, and life was never the same for her without Warren.
Always grateful for what she called her “wonderful life,” she loved her husband and children selflessly and unconditionally. She was gentle and kind, but also strong and quietly fierce before anyone ever used the word. She was not afraid to laugh at herself and had a clever and quick wit. Her comments were always on point.
JoAnn had a rare and wonderful outlook on life — she genuinely believed everyone was as good as she was. And to her, they most often were.
As a mom, she was unbelievably patient and believed so hard that we were wonderful that we often believed it too. As a Nanny, she was never too tired for one more story, another game of make believe, or a staring role as a superhero’s best girl.
She met the indignities of age with dignity and grace, and was caring and grateful to those who cared for her. Everyone that met JoAnn soon thought they were her favorite; her heart was big enough to hold us all.
JoAnn is survived by her son, Jon (and Nancy) Kerbs; daughter, Dana Kerbs (and Leo) Urrutia, daughter, Tracey Kerbs Lane (and Al Eddy); and grandchildren, Kevin and Megan Kerbs, Brian Urrutia and Laura Urrutia (and Michael) Albares, and Colin and Zachary Lane. She was preceded in death by her husband, Warren; infant daughter, Elizabeth; parents, Edward and Marie Pundsack; and sisters, Bonnie Pundsack Grisamore, and Lee Pundsack Stalcup.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at St. Rose Church, Great Bend, at 11 a.m. on Fri., Aug. 9th. Inurnment will be in the Great Bend Cemetery.
Kelly orders flags at half-staff to honor shooting victims
.@GovLauraKelly in accordance with the Presidential Proclamation, has ordered flags throughout Kansas to be flown at half-staff now to sunset on Thursday, August 8, in honor of the victims of the shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio. pic.twitter.com/DpfV3v1QS2
— Kansas.gov (@ksgovernment) August 5, 2019
Jury: Kansas man guilty of groping 13-year-old
SHAWNEE COUNTY —After a four-day trial, a Kansas man was convicted Thursday for a sex crime against a child, according to Shawnee County District Attorney Mike Kagay.
Gabriel Escobar, 39, Topeka, was charged with Aggravated Indecent Liberties of a child under the age of 14, for groping the child’s breasts and pulling her pants down. The incident took place in the child’s home in March of 2018, according to Kagy.
The child had just turned 13-years-old and the defendant was a month shy of 38 years old at the time.
On Thursday a jury found Escobar guilty as charged. He is scheduled for sentencing September 26, 2019. Escobar is facing a presumptive sentence of life in prison, with no possibility for parole until serving a minimum of 25 years, according to Kagy.
Traffickers shipped heroin to Kansas via FedEx delivery
KANSAS CITY, KAN. – Two men were sentenced to federal prison Thursday for shipping heroin and methamphetamine from Arizona to Kansas via FedEx, according to U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister.
David Thomas, 34, Kansas City, was sentenced to 100 months. James Reich, 36, Kansas City, Kan., was sentenced to 51 months.
Both men pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute heroin. The investigation began when a drug dog alerted on a cardboard box at a FedEx facility. Investigators found more than half a pound of heroin in the box.
The investigation led to an address in the 1800 block of South 31st in Kansas City, Kan., where a review of FedEx records showed six similar packages had been delivered. Further investigation tied Thomas and Reich to the address and to one another.
Teen charged in woman’s shooting death at Kansas City arts festival
KANSAS CITY (AP) — An 18-year-old Kansas City man has been charged in the shooting death of a 25-year-old woman police describe as an innocent bystander hit by a stray bullet Friday night during a fight at a popular monthly arts festival on the edge of downtown.
Deon’te Copkney was arrested Saturday and charged with second-degree murder. Officers said they saw Copkney drop a handgun as he was running from the scene and that it was later determined to be the gun used in the shooting that killed Erin Langhofer, of Overland Park, Kansas, as the First Friday event was underway.
Police were called just after 10 p.m. about a fight and say officers arriving on the scene saw people gathered, then heard gunshots. As the crowd cleared, a woman later identified as Langhofer was found with a gunshot wound. She was near a food truck when she was hit, police said. She died at a hospital.
Police spokesman Capt. Tim Hernandez told the Kansas City Star that officers heard numerous shots.
“At this point, they began to take cover, and they tried to identify where the shots were coming from,” Hernandez said. “Of course, when you have thousands of people and you have shots being fired like this, people just started scattering in every direction.”
Police said three people seen running from the area were detained for questioning. Copkney was arrested Saturday and is also charged with unlawful use of a weapon and armed criminal action. He remained jailed Saturday. Online court records did not indicate whether Copkney has an attorney to speak for him.
Friends and family gathered at Langhofer’s family home on Saturday. Langhofer was the daughter of a pastor at the United Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas, the largest Methodist congregation in the U.S. She had been attending the First Friday event with her boyfriend when she was killed, said senior pastor Adam Hamilton.
Langhofer graduated in 2016 from the University of Kansas with a degree in social work, and had worked at a domestic violence center, her friends said.
“She was a gift,” said Scott Kormann, a neighbor who knew Langhofer since her birth. “She wanted you to be a better person.”
Kormann’s daughter, 26-year-old Liz Kormann, was preparing to ask Langhofer to be her maid of honor at her upcoming wedding.
“The world lost a good one,” Liz Kormann’s fiancé, Danny Dolan, said. “We’re lucky to have had her as long as we did.”
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Deputies rescue Kansas man, 14-year-old at Milford Lake
GEARY COUNTY — Just before 1p.m. Sunday, authorities learned of a boat with two occupants who appeared to be in distress on Milford Lake at the mouth of Madison Creek, according to a media release.
The Sheriff’s Department had a marine unit already on the water and responded to the location. They reported that upon arrival Deputies located Armando Matute Jr., Fort RIley, and his 14-year old son floating in the water. Deputies pulled both out of the water and transported them to Milford State Park where they met with Kansas Wildlife and Parks officials
Armando Matute Jr. said they were going along in their boat when they heard a loud pop and their boat started taking on water. He believed they struck something in the water.
The Sheriff’s Department said they were grateful both the father and son were using safe boating practices and were wearing their life jackets or the incident could have had a tragic ending.
No injuries were reported.